


Awakening

by tothineownelfbetrue



Series: Dreaming of You [2]
Category: Disenchantment (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Breakfasts, Bridge between the original fic and the sequel, Demons don't dream, Dream hijacking, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Except they are requited?, Fluff and Angst, Luci doesn't want the dream to end, Luci immerses himself in dreams to escape reality, Luci tries to forget the real world, Luci's unrequited feelings, M/M, Proposals, Reference to Canonical Character Death, Shared Dreams, Time passes differently in the dream realm, also this is now officially its own series, check out my series page for it, copious murder of daisies, copious use of flower crowns, imprisoned, just let me have my gay little demon and elf dream wedding in a field of wildflowers, monsters in the woods, no beta we die like men, that's right - I wrote 7k worth of a bridging fic, they get dream married okay, this isn't even the actual sequel, unusual choice of rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28065612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tothineownelfbetrue/pseuds/tothineownelfbetrue
Summary: It's not his dream but It's so much better than Luci's current reality.  He just wants to stay like this.... here where there's finally nothing left to come between them.Nothing except the whole waking world.or: That weird fic where Luci loses himself in a beautiful dream.
Relationships: Elfo/Luci (Disenchantment)
Series: Dreaming of You [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055903
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working on a full sequel to Dream a Little Dream, but while I was listening to my song list for it, I was struck with the inspiration to do this smaller fic as well. This is kind of a bridge fic between Dream a Little Dream and the upcoming story. This isn't beta-read.

-

He’s dreaming again.

It’s not his dream though. It never is. Demons are incapable of dreaming. Somewhere in the making of them, the powers that be have seen fit to deny them that ability. Before coming to the mortal realm, Luci had never found it to be something lacking. He can go into mortal dreams though, mess with them and twist them around and that was always more than good enough.

Now he spends more time than he cares to admit caught up in dreams. It’s a weakness in him that he’s identified and isn’t willing to give up on yet.

Other demons might scoff about it, but Luci’s spent a lot of time hanging out with mortals and it makes him all too aware that they’re more fun, generally speaking, than most demons. Even the ones who are a general pain in his ass. Like Elfo.

And he doesn’t hate Elfo. He can’t.

If he did, he wouldn’t be here right now.

He stretches out in a patch of sun, lazy gaze darting to the elf sitting not far away. Elfo is leaning against the wall, brow furrowed in a slight scowl as he fiddles with a couple of pieces of candy. Luci can tell without asking that he’d rather be eating them than attempting to assemble them into some kind of furniture, but doing so would invalidate the entire trip they made to get them. 

Funny how he's in Elfo's dream and somehow everything is so tremendously boring and domestic. Most mortals seem to dream about crazy and exciting things, all the adventures they'll never be able to go on, all the vices and things they don't dare to try out in the waking world. There's always so much to dreams that makes such good fodder for demonkind. It's part of the reason that visiting dreams is such fun. If someone had told Luci ages ago that he'd be caught up in an elf's dream about shopping for furniture... and then building said furniture... Luci would have considered that to be the threat of impending boredom beyond compare.

But here he is and he wants it to go on forever.

Well... not forever. Not the building, part anyway. When Elfo is through with trying to put together his cheap elf furniture, he'll be ready to pay more attention to Luci and that's bound to involve cuddles and kissing and perhaps - Luci hopes - even more disgustingly sweet but sweaty activities. Now that Luci has that on his brain, he can't help but be a little impatient. He stretches before standing up, padding over to where Elfo is struggling with the instructions.

"They don't make any sense," Elfo says, helpless and frustrated. "I thought it said to do one thing but when I went to check, it was different. I must have missed a page..."

Of course, they don't make sense. It's a dream. Luci knows it's one of those weird quirks of dreams, something that the very few mortals who know something about Lucid Dreaming would understand. Text in dreams is always kind of a hard thing to pin down. But if Elfo realizes that the reason he can't actually work out what the instructions are telling him to do is because he's dreaming, it might be enough of a jolt to wake him up. Luci can't have that. It's been too good, what they have right now. If Elfo wakes up...

_No. He can't think about that._

Luci takes the instructions and focuses more of his effort on taking control of the dream state. It's something he's gotten a bit rusty at doing because he hasn't bothered actually exerting himself in any significant way in quite a while, preferring to let things play out however they would naturally. But even with not having used his abilities in a while, it's easy to take hold of the pieces of candy and stick them together, using a bit of mental control to jump straight from a pile of useless crap and make it into a piece of furniture. All it takes is focusing on a shelf for a second and it's just there and the candy is gone in a blink.

Because it's a dream, Elfo doesn't think to question Luci's method of 'building' the shelf. It doesn't make any sense because the shelf is just there, but the dream allows for such strangeness and leaps in logic and Elfo is just delighted that it's done. He hugs Luci immediately, "It looks great! You're so good at this, Luci!" Luci puffs himself up at the praise, his tail swishing as he rubs one paw against his chest before examining it. 

"Of course I am! I'm a demon." He brags and Elfo doesn't rebuke him like he might if this were the waking world and Elfo still had something against such displays of immodesty. Elfo instead curls fingers into his fur and scritches up along the natural curve of Luci's spine, wringing a purr from the demon's throat. He turns his head, pressing his muzzle against Elfo's throat and blowing a hot gust of air against his skin, making the elf squirm and wiggle. As Elfo is too distracted to continue his petting, Luci gives a very deliberate grumble, knowing that Elfo will realize what's amiss and get back to giving him the attention he rightly deserves.

And Elfo falls for it, of course. Why wouldn't he? He's a tremendous sap and he's so head over heels for Luci that he's dumb with it. 

The two of them curl together on the couch with Luci half-draped across Elfo's lap and he leans his head against Elfo's chest for a second as the elf stretches sleepily. There's no heartbeat though and Luci is jarred for a moment, finding his fur standing on end a little at the lack of the expected sound.

But it's a dream. There's no reason he should hear a heartbeat since Elfo wouldn't dream about having one, probably. And if Elfo doesn't focus on it and Luci doesn't actively work to make it be in the dream, then it just won't happen. So of course it's not there. Luci shuffles to rest his head on Elfo's thigh instead. But for some reason, now that he's heard it - _or not heard it, really_ \- he can't not think about it. So Elfo dozes off, his petting hand falling still, and Luci lays there, reminded that there's no point to sleeping in dreams anyway. If he stops focusing on being awake in the dream, it'll just skip-

-

"Luci!" Elfo is chipper and it takes Luci a few seconds to get steady again as the dream realm shifts around him. It's dictated by Elfo's mind so if Luci's not actively controlling the things going on, it will make whatever jumps in time and location that Elfo's thoughts naturally take it. It's a little disorienting, but only because Luci has usually gotten good at steering Elfo in the direction needed to maximize their time. 

Elfo is wearing an apron and cooking and Luci looks around at the location for a second, trying to pinpoint it. he thinks it's Elfo's house back in Elfwood. They've been here a few times. It's one of the places Elfo's mind likes to come. Elfo is standing in front of an elf stove and making some kind of breakfast cakes. He deposits them in front of Luci and sits down across from him at the table, chin in his hands and a wide smile on his face as he waits for Luci to eat.

Under other circumstances, Luci might have had a snappy remark about how Elfo was being creepy right now, watching him eat, but he can't muster it. Instead, he just sits and eats his pancake slowly, aware of Elfo's eyes on him, and he wonders why his earlier sense of peace and contentment is starting to crumble around him. After a few more bites, he shoves the pancake aside, climbing onto the table to catch hold of Elfo's shirt and reel him into a demanding kiss. Elfo makes a small noise of surprise and Luci can sense this isn't how Elfo thought things were going to go -

_Of course they aren't. Luci is in control of the dream now_

\- but it only takes a moment for Elfo to get with the program, reaching his hands up to catch in Luci's fur, stroking down his sides and back, then up to curl at the nape of his neck. He still tastes like candy and it's a perfect distraction as Luci heedlessly sweeps the rest of the meal off the table, his claws catching for offending bits of clothing and tearing them away impatiently. There's another moment of muffled protest from Elfo, but Luci's need is permeating the dream and it's virtually impossible for Elfo to ignore it when it's closing in all around him.

They stretch out on the table then and Luci pants small words into Elfo's neck as he moves in small desperate bursts. Soft words that he's not even paying attention to.

For a moment, that's all Luci can focus on, losing himself in the physical sensations and Elfo's hands which hesitate against him before curling around him tightly and holding him with desperate strength. It's over quickly, with Luci laying bonelessly on top of Elfo as the elf hesitantly touches his sweaty fur.

"Luci?" He says and the demon isn't sure what he's asking. He shifts, pressing his paw to Elfo's mouth to silence him before he can say anything else. Elfo's expression is strange, searching, and then he curls his hand around Luci's paw, holding it as he presses a kiss to the dark palm. Luci buries his muzzle against Elfo's neck and the heat in his middle ebbs and goes cold.

If they'd done this in real life - 

_Pff... like that would ever happen, even if Elfo were to get with the program. Which he wouldn't because he’s Elfo and-_

_...and..._

\- Luci bites his lip, pushing himself up finally. Elfo sits up as well, holding Luci against his chest for a second while the demon struggles to focus. Things blur a bit around them and then Elfo is dressed again and cleaning up the dishes as though nothing untoward had happened. Luci watches him depositing dishes in the sink and running the water and he clenches his paws before he strides forward, dragging a newly formed stool up to the sink and plunging his own paws into the water to help. Elfo's gaze flickers to him, surprise in his eyes that gives way to a small smile.

"Thanks, Luci." He says, still blissfully unaware of the demon's motivations. 

Luci doesn't like water. Sure he's not a cat, but water is something that's more of a mortal realm thing. He'd take magma any day. Water is cold and slimy and full of gross things. But he can deal with a few menial chores that involve submerging his paws in gross non-Hell liquids if it means that he's able to stand beside Elfo, shoulder to shoulder like this. After a few minutes of this silent washing, Elfo darts him a quick glance, a tiny smile, and then Luci feels compelled to splash him.

The dishes get done eventually, but not before Elfo and Luci have both been reduced to sopping wet messes of fur and clothing.

It's good though, this kind of ridiculousness. It was nothing that Luci would have felt comfortable with under normal circumstances but here it's fine. He's even gracious enough that after the last dish has been put up, he offers Elfo the drying rag as a sign of solidarity. Elfo takes it and smiles at him. 

  
  


It's bliss. Not the drug kind of bliss... the emotional kind. The real kind. Luci runs his paws down Elfo's back as they cuddle, the pads of his paws sliding over velvety green skin. Elfo squirms and wiggles under his touch, giggling softly and it's a sound that makes Luci feel warm in ways that have nothing to do with Hellfire, or even just plain old lust. His ears go back for a second as the thought bubbles up, the reminder of why he's here in this dream in the first place.

It's because real life isn't like this. This is what he wants and he can't have it.

And it's not just a matter of Elfo not being interested because Luci's seen his dreams, he's seen a lot of things about Elfo that Elfo probably doesn't even know about himself. There's no lying, no hiding here. Elfo's feelings for him are genuine, unfiltered, for good and for ill. If Luci tries, in the real world, if he just lets things happen out there the way they happen in here, he knows that eventually those subconscious feelings and urges will come to the surface. It would be a pain in his ass, but he'd be rewarded for his effort.

No, it's not Elfo holding him back and he knows it. It's Luci himself. 

As much as Luci hates to admit it, because he's a demon and thus a cool bad boy by his very nature, Elfo has always been more of a rebel than he is. It makes no damn sense, but nothing about his existence has made sense since he came to the mortal realm. Elfo made a decision to leave Elfwood, one based on his need to be true to himself-

_how well did that work out though, Luci?_

\- and Luci is still doing his job in the mortal realm because it's the only thing that will continue his advancement among his own kind and finally give him the power and the position he craves. Breaking away from his one job up here, his effort to corrupt Bean, to engage himself in a _romantic_ relationship with a mortal was like something out of a bad love story. It won't ever end well and he knows it. That's why the dream is so necessary. For this short amount of time, he can have what he wants with no repercussions.

Elfo is frowning at him, worried over him, and Luci distracts him - distracts both of them - with a kiss that's equal parts hunger and frustration.

If there's a time to talk about it, a time for introspection, then at least it's not right now. 

Besides, he muses later on, when Elfo is dozing and looking delightfully stupid with the way he drools on the pillow, it's not like there's any reason to rush. Dreams can last as long as they need to. He smiles, reaching out his paws to ruffle at Elfo's stupid spikey hair and muss it into odd angles.

-

He's not sure how long it's been on the outside. Dream time doesn't work at the same pace as real time and they could have been here for only minutes... seconds even... trapped in Elfo's subconscious thoughts and feelings. 

They're stretched out in the grass and Elfo keeps plucking at the blades of it, pulling them free of the ground one by one and gathering together the flowers to weave into crowns. It's a common thing for Elfo, he enjoys making daisy chains and since they discovered the field of wildflowers somehow growing behind their little dream house, Elfo has been spending a lot of time putting daisy chains all over everything. They hang decoratively from walls, wend around lamps and lanterns and form lattices that drape across the furniture. They even come in colours that real daisies never would, though Luci finds that Elfo seems to favour the classical looking ones the most.

Luci watches, eye half-lidded as Elfo's nimble fingers twist and wrap the stems without hesitation, forming complex lattices. The elf sets aside a net of daisies for a moment, humming a little as he pulls up a few more flowers, picking the smallest ones he can find. Luci thinks maybe it's some kind of challenge Elfo has set for himself, to see how many different things he can create with the same basic building blocks. He doesn't mind at the moment because it's relaxing in its way. He'd never considered something so low-key and useless to be a source of relaxation but as a demon he'd never been in much of a mindset for it either. He zones out for a second, though not enough that his hold on the dream slips.

Then Elfo's hand is on him, giving him a slight shake, and he stirs, stretching as he looks at the elf's smiling face. "What?" He asks, more bemused than angry. Elfo holds up his newest creation, and perhaps the smallest, a simple coil of tightly wound flowers, so tiny that it won't work as a crown or even as a bracelet. It's an impressive piece of work, even if Luci doesn't see the use in it. "What's that?" He asks, more because he knows Elfo will expect it than because he cares about actually finding out.

Elfo shifts, sliding his hand to trail fingers down Luci's arm, brushing against his palm for a moment. "I made it for you." He said, soft and breathless.

That part isn't a surprise. Elfo makes a lot of things out of flowers. He offers most of them to Luci sooner or later. He doesn't see why this is different, but for some reason, Elfo is hanging on Luci's every word. He's up on his knees, looking down at the lounging demon as though this particular bit of plant murder was significant somehow. Luci finally stirs, moving to sit up and get a better look at the thing. As he does, Elfo takes hold of his hand again, catching him lightly by the corner of his dark palm. 

His new woven flower creation slides onto Luci's finger easily, a perfect fit. It's only then that Luci realizes that Elfo's already made more than one. There's a matching flower circle sitting on his outstretched palm, as though he wants Luci to take it.

Luci blinks. For once he's the one who's not caught up with what's going on. He's rarely the slow one in their relationship so it's an unfamiliar sensation to him. He stares dumbly down at both his own paw and Elfo's offering. What is this? It looks even more useless than the flower crowns. Is it a flower ring? What good is that? And why would Elfo be giving him another one when he's already wearing-

His breath catches in his throat.

His gaze darts up to Elfo who has this open and earnest expression on his face but Luci can read a little bit of worry there too, like he's not sure how Luci is going to respond. Luci's dark ears flick back for a moment and he struggles for a few seconds longer to find the words. Then it occurs to him that maybe he doesn't have to say anything.

He takes the offered flower ring and looks down at it. It's a neatly designed little thing, somehow both intricate and simple. Everything about it is so Elfo that it almost hurts. He can feel Elfo's eyes on him, see the slight hint of tension in the elf's shoulders as he inspects the item. Luci's tail moves in a slow swish, but it's just something to distract himself from the thoughts circling in his mind. He lets out the breath he hadn't realized he was still holding, meeting Elfo's gaze as he slides the ring onto that small green finger.

Luci feels like he should still say something at this point, but the words elude him, especially as Elfo turns that bright smile on him and he feels an intense need to kiss him. And he does, because he can. He kisses him over and over, rolling him in the grass with their hands tangled together so their matching rings touch. 

He murmurs soft words that he doesn't think about. Foolish words. Foolish promises.

Luci promises the world. Here in the dream realm, it's something he can actually give.

He tries to forget that there's a whole world outside of Elfo's dream where he can't even give Elfo freshly picked flowers... much less everything else. He pushes that creeping realization away, buries it in the recesses of his mind, and instead enjoys this moment of bliss.

-

Are they dream married now? Luci doesn't know if that's even a thing. Demons don't have anything like marriage anyway, though they know a fair bit about it, especially due to the way that humans would often claim that it was 'hell'. Whenever you compare something to Hell, you have to be sure that there are demons looking into the matter to see just how it stacks up. 

As usual, humans grossly exaggerated the bad parts of the whole concept. Unsurprising, though given how terrible they are at everything else in their lives, it's clear that humans probably make their own marriages terrible because they just suck at communicating and relationships. It's a common issue with not just them but most mortals. Certainly marriage isn't some kind of idealized, far-fetched notion. From everything Luci has seen, it takes a lot of work and even then it doesn't always work out anyway. And even if it _does_ work out and not become terrible well... humans were mortal...

When Luci finally mentions this to Elfo, mostly because he's not sure what this means for an elf and what their view on the whole ridiculousness is, the response he gets startles him a little. Though Elfo is really into romantic stuff - as evidenced by his dreams of watching the sunrise and holding hands and all those saccharine things he's always talked about wanting to do with a girl he likes - it seems like elves, on the whole, aren't a particularly romantic bunch. They're pretty cavalier about their relationships, in a way that Luci wouldn't have expected from a race that somehow came up with a do-gooder wannabe like Elfo.

There's something like marriage, but it's not exactly that.

Elfo's expression gets a little worried as he mentions as much to Luci, and he tries to be reassuring right away, as if he thinks Luci will be upset by this mention of elves not being the most romantically inclined creatures in the world. He can't know that this is normal in the world and that Elfo himself is the weird one. Luci just wraps his tail around Elfo's wrist and gives him a slight tug to pull him closer. When Elfo pauses, choking on his apology, Luci just flashes him a smirk.

"Shut up." He says. 

Regardless of what elves, demons, or even humans think of the whole idea of marriage, it's definitely something that he and Elfo probably couldn't actually do anyway. Not in the waking world. But he'll take this, these woven flower rings and lazy long days cuddling. He can even handle the being domestic part, despite the fact that Elfo does occasionally ask him to do household chores which always pisses him off - and then makes Elfo have to do even more because Luci is frankly shit at most chores anyway.

So maybe they can't marry. But this is close enough for him.

_-_

Luci's always heard the term 'honeymoon phase" when it comes to relationships. He knows what it means. It's that period when mortals are stupid and think everything is great. It's the point right before reality settles in and proceeds to give them a good hard kick in the nuts to remind them that the world isn't all rainbows and roses. Or maybe it just reminds them that rainbows are an illusion and roses have thorns. Either way, Luci never thought he's the sort of person to see things in this overly idealistic manner. 

But he realizes - he's not sure how long into it - that he might be there right now. There's a creeping awareness around the edges that something about this isn't perfect and it's driving him mad as much as he tries to ignore it. It's not their relationship, exactly... at least he doesn't think so. Elfo is the same Elfo as before, he still gets on Luci's nerves sometimes but at least now there's the affection and attention to remind Luci why he fell for an idiot like this in the first place. 

Is it him? Luci pauses in the middle of a walk with Elfo and the elf gets several steps ahead before he comes back to catch hold of Luci's hand and give him a gentle tug. Luci's paws feel planted on the ground, though, like they've melded with the rolling hillside and won't come loose. It takes a few moments of Elfo first asking questions and then fussing when Luci doesn't respond before Luci manages to force his legs to work again. 

"Is everything okay?" Elfo asks him, setting a hand gently against Luci's back, rubbing in soothing circles.

"Yeah." Luci says. He chokes on it because it's a lie. Did he promise he wouldn't lie? He has a hard time remembering. That afternoon in the field of wildflowers feels so far away. "Let's go home." Elfo doesn't ask him more; instead, he's trusting like some kind of fool. That's an Elfo trait too, one that has always been both frustrating and endearing for Luci. Right now it's frustrating. He realizes, on some level, that he wants Elfo to ask more, to prod more, to help him figure out what's wrong so he can fix it...

But every time his mind approaches that thought, it shies away and he feels a strange sense of panic.

He curls up with Elfo on the couch, carefully not resting his head against the elf's chest but instead pressing his cheek to Elfo's shoulder where it's safe. His paw drifts though, despite his resolve, continually sliding up in an effort to settle above Elfo's heart. Every time he forces it away.

Why?

Elfo presses kisses to Luci's forehead, to the dark curve of his cheek, petting his ears in just the way he likes. They go to bed, lying together close enough to touch, and Luci despairs.

He has everything he wants. Why does it feel empty?

-

"Luci." Elfo asks him. It feels abrupt. It's like a jump in his memory. It feels like he was just lying in bed, struggling to sleep.... struggling to stay awake. How did he get here? He blinks at Elfo across the breakfast spread on the table. 

"What?" He thinks Elfo said more than his name. He thinks there was a question there.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Elfo asks, pouring syrup onto their plates, forming small shapes. He writes Luci's name in cursive letters and puts a heart over the i. Luci stares at it accusingly. It's not the heart that bothers him though, it's how easily Elfo sees through his lies. He's slipping. What's a demon to do when his lies start to become too obvious? That's the dilemma. The answer seems like the same one he usually goes with: lie more. He's not like Elfo where he'll double down on the same stupid lie as before. His tactic is a new, more distracting lie.

He doesn't know himself what's really bothering him, so it's not like he can tell Elfo anyway.

"Of course," Luci says and he fancies that he sounds reasonably honest. Then he suggests something that he knows will get Elfo's attention - and more importantly, will get Elfo off his back with the questions for a little while. "I'm just bored with breakfast. Let's go for a walk." He pushes his plate aside and holds out his hand and Elfo pauses with a forkful of pancake in his mouth before swallowing it down and reaching out to take it.

-

It's pretty much the same as their usual walk. It's always this way and he's not sure why it bothers him now. Maybe he's just bothered by routine. Luci looks out past the path they usually follow and sees the trees in the distance. "Let's walk over there." He says, just for a change. Elfo looks at him, hesitates like he might say something.

"That's the Dark Forest..." Elfo's feet drag for a moment. "We shouldn't go in there."

Funny, Luci doesn't remember an ominous forest hanging around at the borders of their idyllic little cottage. When had that happened?

_Stupid. Forests didn't just **happen**. It must have been there all along. _

On some level, he knows this is a foolish idea. Elfo's entire body language is screaming it. There's some part of Luci's mind that's screaming too, still prodding at him with that sense of something being off. But Luci is the guy who's always encouraging other people to "do it", and he'll be damned if he won't take his own advice. As he tips his head toward the forest, he watches Elfo's face fall a little. The elf should argue with him if he really doesn't want to do this, but instead, he drops his gaze and keeps his fingers twined with Luci's.

He doesn't look up as they walk, not even as they reach the edge of the forest and then they're just inside it, it swallows them up. Luci can see Elfo looking back the way they came, almost wistful, but the path isn't there anymore. It's been only a couple of minutes in the forest and there's a sense of anticipation in the air. It's not excitement though... it's the bated breath before the monster shows up.

-

And the monster does show up. 

Luci presumes it does anyway because everything is a blur for a few seconds. One moment they're walking and the next the trees have closed in around them and the sky above the forest has gotten dark with the night. Elfo presses in close to him in a way that would be gratifying if Luci isn't so preoccupied with trying to figure out why he has this sinking feeling. 

This is it. The honeymoon is over and he knows it's his own fault. He can only console himself that it's not because of some inherent compatibility issue between himself and Elfo - 

_Or if there was, he'll never know it, will he?_

\- but instead, because they're both about to be eaten by a monster. Luci's motions are slow, like he's trying to walk through syrup, but he's not the one that.... _whatever it was_ was after either. It was like he didn't even exist to the thing, but he couldn't even really see it other than the impression of shadowy wings and a strangely familiar shape. And then the shadows are gone and Elfo is sprawled out on the ground.

It's familiar... this moment. Luci drops to his knees beside the elf and as his hand goes to catch hold of Elfo's, he feels an uncanny sensation, a tingle running through his hand where it made contact with Elfo's and then their fingers slide right through each other. It's like touching a ghost.

The realizations start creeping in around the edges. But he already knew them all. 

This is what he's been trying so hard to forget. It's a dream. He's in Elfo's dream and it's falling apart around the edges. No dream lasts forever and Luci can feel his own grip on it starting to waver. He realizes he's been holding on for a long time now, his own will pulling this dream realm together and forcing it to go forward. He's been so focused on that need, he'd almost forgotten that all of this isn't real.

Elfo is still flailing a little but this is different. There's a point in nightmares where the shock of them can push the dreamer to wake up and while there's no way Elfo can be hurt by the dream in real life -

_right?_

\- he's panicking. The dream is dissolving around him. It's slipping away and it will be gone soon.

Luci feels a surge of desperate power run through him and he reaches out with his own mind, his own will, and grabs hold of the ragged edges of the dream. He's been doing this for a while, to a lesser degree, without even thinking about it. Now it's the only thing on his mind. There's still a few things that are vague in Luci's mind, like why there's this burgeoning desperation in him. He should be letting it go. It's just a dream. There will always be more dreams...

_No, He thinks. No. This could be it. This could be the only time..._

His mind struggles with the dichotomy.

Elfo looks at him, his eyes wide and his body quivering in shock. This can't be good, can it? Being kept in a dream he should be waking up from. Can it hurt him? 

_No. No it can't. How could it-_

"Luci." Elfo croaks out. The woven flowers still wrapped around his finger are starting to fall apart, petals drifting down to the damp loamy ground beneath them. "W-what's going on?" Luci doesn't answer him because he can't bring himself to, but as much as he's always mocked Elfo's intellect - or at least his complete lack of worldly sense - it doesn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that should have been obvious ages ago. "This isn't real...?" The words come slowly, then he pauses, repeats. "It's not real." This time it isn't a question.

Luci's struggle to hold the dream together redoubles, but he already knows there's no use anymore. While there are some people who can manipulate their own dreams even after the awareness that they're dreaming, they're few and far-between in Luci's experience and Elfo has rarely shown any real awareness of the dream state. Usually, if he gets too close to the truth, he wakes up... Luci has never felt this desperate to avoid that before and for just a few seconds he wonders about the reason for his own urgency in the matter.

It's just a dream. A nice dream, yes, but a dream. And even if Elfo doesn't remember it tomorrow, Luci can always just go into his dreams again. Maybe next time he can make it happen faster-

There's something teasing at the edges of his memory, something he's been trying to shove out of his mind since very early on in this whole debacle. He thinks its important but to figure out what it is, he has to strip out the rest of the details and get down to the core of his own fears and worries. He'd almost forgotten why he's even here...why?

Elfo is still trying to get his own answers, looking at Luci with that helpless expression. Luci grabs hold of him by the shirt, dark fingers wending in Elfo's pinkish-red shirt and dragging the elf closer to him. Elfo struggles for a few seconds but then falls still in Luci's grip as the demon reels him in close. 

He presses his cheek to Elfo's chest, something he's been avoiding doing for a while. It was just too much reality for his grip on the dream to withstand and as he pauses, as he _listens_ he knows why.

No heartbeat. That was a detail that didn't have to exist in the dream but in this state, so close to the dissolution of the dream, he should be able to hear it. The frantic pounding of a dreamer about to come out of a nightmare. The real world bleeding into the dream realm in the last few moments before awareness washed away the entire sequence. He should have been able to hear a heartbeat.

And then the rest of it hits him all at once. Bean on her knees on the damp ground. Her holding Elfo close to her chest. The shake of her shoulders and the way her pale hair fell like a curtain around her face with the bow of her head. His own voice reaching his ears, a pained croak.

_Who did that?_

Dead. Elfo is dead. It all floods back to him now. It's what he's been trying to avoid.

He remembers. 

"Luci..." Elfo says, his hands settling on Luci's dark shoulders, giving him a shake. He looks up, meets Elfo's gaze. Elfo already looks hazy in his vision, indistinct around the edges. A waking dreamer, but waking to what? "Are you doing this?" Now that Elfo brings it to his attention, he can see that the dream is splintering but there are dark streaks of shadow underneath the crumbling edges of the forest around them, holding things together. It looks familiar because it is. It's Luci's will he's seeing, given a physical manifestation. Yeah. He's the one doing it. He doesn't have to answer because Elfo knows. There's a wildness in the elf's expression. "You have to stop."

"I can't stop," Luci says, voice flat.

"You have to." As Elfo tries to pull back, pull away as though there's anywhere for him to go that he can escape Luci's determination to keep this all together, Luci clamps down harder on it. The shadowy threads pulse with power and Luci feels lightheaded. It's too much effort. He can't hold on. But he has to hold on. Elfo asks the question Luci has already realized the answer to: "why?" and Luci answers because nothing else has worked. He can't fight both Elfo and the dream.

"Because I don't want this to go away!" he snaps, voice harsh with anger and sorrow. "I want you to stay with me!" That last word ends on a croak.

Elfo stops struggling against him. It should be a victory but it's not because Elfo is just giving him this look. Understanding. He looks around his dream. The forest has faded and they're standing in the remnants of their hillside meadow, the place where Luci gave him all the soft words of love and adoration he could find in the depths of his dark, demon heart. The flowers are turning black and falling away, the ground dissolving toward their feet. Elfo's hand slides to his own, fingers twined for a moment so Luci can see the remnants of the woven flowers fading into dust and shadow substance. "But we can't stay." He squeezes Luci's paw but he already feels indistinct.

Luci lets out the breath he hadn't realized he's holding, his ears droop. As they do, the tenuous shadowy threads holding the world together around them start to fray and snap. The two of them stand there together, hands still twined as the dream comes apart around them without Luci struggling to hold it together. Luci feels like he should say something - _say everything_ \- because he doesn't know if he'll get another chance. He's still not sure if this is a fluke. This could be the last time he sees Elfo. He just can't think of anything. He won't say goodbye. He refuses. He hadn't said it when Elfo died and he won't now, just in case...

So he does the only other reasonable thing to do. He leans up on his toes, pressing a kiss to Elfo's lips and closing his eye so he doesn't have to see the dream vanish.

-

He doesn't want to open his eyes. He knows what he _won't_ see. 

A few seconds pass and with it, the realm of the dream is starting to fade into memory and the world around him is making itself known. While he was immersed in the dream, he'd kind of forgotten the shitty situation he was actually dealing with in the waking world. Now it all comes rushing back to him. 

He's curled on himself slightly in a small cramped space that smells strongly of rubbing alcohol. There is no alcohol around him though because he already drank that early on when he was stuck down here in this dusty hellhole. The walls and floor of his prison are glass. He's in Dagmar's specimen bottle, tucked away in a storage room somewhere in the pit of this Maruvian palace. He's in a place where no one will probably ever see or hear him again, trapped with no way to get out.

Even the worst dream would have been better than his reality, and it occurs to Luci that maybe his desperation to stay buried in the dream had been filling more than one need of his.

He turns as much as he can in his bottle prison, one ear flattened against his head as he leans his cheek against the cool glass. He closes his eyes. There's no dream though, when he reaches out there's nothing for him to catch hold of. He's not sure if it's because what he's already experienced was a cosmic fluke or not. He shouldn't be able to touch the mind of a dead person. Dead people don't dream.

And yet, he was there. It's what keeps his mind going, a futile hope that there's something he can do, that Elfo _exists_ out there for him to find. The trouble is... he can't find Elfo if he's stuck in this bottle. He can't do a god damned thing like this. And there's no way for him to get out, not unless luck decides to shift in his favour, for once and luck has been screwing him over hard lately.

No. This is it. This is how it ends. Alone and meaningless, just like he's always feared...

He slumps to the bottom of his bottle and gives in to the futility of it.

-

There's a sound. 

He's not sure what it is. He barely registers anything in this resigned stupor. His ear doesn't even twitch because it's probably just the sound of the shelves settling from the heat or something. Better not to think of it, not to feel anything. That's what he tells himself.

Then it comes again and this time it's more distinct... more distinctly a voice. Maybe Jerry is sticking some other poor fool down here to rot away for all eternity.

"Luci?"

He thinks he's dreaming again, somehow and he feels a stab of terror and an even more frightening stab of hope. He knows that voice. If he had a heart, it would be threatening to pound its way out of his chest right now. He doesn't open his eyes, his paws clenching as he listens in desperate fear. It can't be. It can't.

"Luci?!" 

_It is. It is._

"Bean!" He cries out for her. His saviour, dusty and pale in the torchlight. She doesn't even see him for a moment and this bit of idiocy reassures him that it's real and not some figment of his imagination. As he's swept up in her arms, pressed close into the heat of her real, living body, he closes his eye and listens to her heartbeat. 

Luci feels the hope struggling to make a home in his dark chest for the first time since arriving in Maru and this time he lets it. If Bean can find him in this place, then maybe - just maybe - it's not over yet.

-

  
  


_And I'll disappear, take flight on the wind of wishing you were here  
Fading light, like a star whose life has been gone for years_

_And I'll fly, fly across the sky  
And I'll leave, I'll leave it all behind_   
_If you'll be here, here with me tonight_   
_I'll be fine, I'll be fine_   
_I'll be fine_   
_I'll be fine, I'll be fine_   
_I'll be fine_


End file.
